U.S. patent application number 11/133375 was filed with the patent office on 2006-11-23 for two-way cable winding reel.
This patent application is currently assigned to KYE SYSTEMS CORP.. Invention is credited to Zai-Fu Yang.
Application Number | 20060261203 11/133375 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 37447454 |
Filed Date | 2006-11-23 |
United States Patent
Application |
20060261203 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Yang; Zai-Fu |
November 23, 2006 |
Two-way cable winding reel
Abstract
The present invention relates to a two-way cable winding reel.
The reel includes a housing, a rotator, a worm spring, and a cable.
The rotator has several protrusions on one side, and the housing
has a movable stopper. One end of the stopper forms a pawl that
extends between any two of the protrusions. The pawl permits
rotation of the rotator in a first direction to extend the cable
when a sufficient pulling force is applied to the cable, and
prevents rotation of the rotator in a cable retraction direction so
long as the pawl extends between the protrusions. The other end of
the stopper protrudes through the housing such that a user may
engage or disengage the stopper to cause the pawl to disengage from
the protrusions and permit retraction of the cable to a desired
length.
Inventors: |
Yang; Zai-Fu; (Taipei,
TW) |
Correspondence
Address: |
BACON & THOMAS, PLLC
625 SLATERS LANE
FOURTH FLOOR
ALEXANDRIA
VA
22314
US
|
Assignee: |
KYE SYSTEMS CORP.
TAIPEI
TW
|
Family ID: |
37447454 |
Appl. No.: |
11/133375 |
Filed: |
May 20, 2005 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
242/378.4 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H02G 11/02 20130101;
B65H 75/4431 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
242/378.4 |
International
Class: |
B65H 75/48 20060101
B65H075/48 |
Claims
1. A two-way cable winding reel, comprising: a housing, a rotator,
a worm spring and a cable; wherein the rotator is rotatably mounted
within the housing; the cable is fixed to and surrounds the
rotator, and the worm spring is arranged to apply a biasing force
to the rotator to cause the rotator to rotate in a direction that
retracts two ends of the cable when a stopper is released; wherein
the rotator has a plurality of protrusions extending from one side;
and wherein the stopper has a first end extending from the housing
so that it can be manipulated by a user, and a second end that
extends between the protrusions and engages any one of the
protrusions to prevent rotation of the rotator, and therefore
retraction of the cable, unless the user manipulates the first end
of the stopper to cause the second end to disengage said one of the
protrusions.
2. The winding reel as claimed in claim 1, wherein the housing has
a round groove which receives and enables the protrusions to rotate
therein.
3. The winding reel as claimed in claim 1, wherein the stopper is
pivoted at a side of the housing, and the second end of the stopper
is a pawl having an inclined surface that permits rotation of the
rotator when sufficient force is applied to extend the cable, and a
stop surface that engages said any one of the protrusions to
prevent rotation of the rotator.
4. The winding reel as claimed in claim 1, wherein the second end
of the stopper is biased by a resilient element to cause the second
end to extend into the protrusions.
5. The winding reel as claimed in claim 1, wherein each end of the
cable has a terminal.
6. The winding reel as claimed in claim 1, wherein one end of the
cable is fixed to a circuit board.
7. The winding reel as claimed in claim 1, wherein the rotator has
a clip for clamping a middle portion of the cable.
8. The winding reel as claimed in claim 7, wherein the cable is
received by a first slit and a second slit on the rotator, and one
end of the worm spring extends through a third slit on the rotator
and hooks onto a wall within the rotator.
9. The winding reel as claimed in claim 8, wherein the housing has
an axle, and the axle further has a slit; and the other end of the
worm spring is fixed in the slit of the axle.
10. The winding reel as claimed in claim 1, wherein the housing has
an upper opening and a lower opening that permits passage of
respective ends of the cable into the housing.
11. A computer peripheral device having a main body and a two-way
cable winding reel, the reel further comprising: a housing, a
rotator, a worm spring and a cable extending from the main body of
the peripheral device; wherein the rotator is rotatably mounted
within the housing; the cable is fixed to and surrounds the
rotator, and the worm spring is arranged to apply a biasing force
to the rotator to cause the rotator to rotate in a direction that
retracts two ends of the cable when a stopper is released; wherein
the rotator has a plurality of protrusions extending from one side;
and wherein the stopper has a first end extending from the housing
so that it can be manipulated by a user, and a second end that
extends between the protrusions and engages any one of the
protrusions to prevent rotation of the rotator, and therefore
retraction of the cable, unless the user manipulates the first end
of the stopper to cause the second end to disengage said one of the
protrusions.
12. The winding reel as claimed in claim 11, wherein the housing
has a round groove which receives and enables the protrusions to
rotate therein.
13. The winding reel as claimed in claim 11, wherein the stopper is
pivoted at a side of the housing, and the second end of the stopper
is a pawl having an inclined surface that permits rotation of the
rotator when sufficient force is applied to extend the cable, and a
stop surface that engages said any one of the protrusions to
prevent rotation of the rotator.
14. The winding reel as claimed in claim 11, wherein the second end
of the stopper is biased by a resilient element to cause the second
end to extend into the protrusions.
15. The winding reel as claimed in claim 11, wherein each end of
the cable has a terminal.
16. The winding reel as claimed in claim 11, wherein one end of the
cable is fixed to a circuit board in the main body of the
peripheral device.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to a cable winding reel, and
in particular, to a two-way winding reel.
[0003] 2. Description of the Prior Art
[0004] Wired devices, such as computer peripheral devices, always
drag cords around the user's narrow working space. Some users may
tie the unnecessary portion of the cord when the cord is longer
than a desired length, and untie it when the cord is shorter than a
desired length. However, it is a great burden for the user to tie
and untie excess portions of the cord over and over again.
[0005] U.S. Pat. No. 6,088,021 discloses a one-way reel structure
for accommodating the excess cord to any desired length, in which a
first end of the cable within the reel is fixed to a circuit board
while the second end of the cable is retractable in length for
connecting to a port of a computer or the like. However, due to the
great dragging force coming from the second end, the first end is
subject to detachment from the circuit board.
[0006] In order to overcome the defect mentioned above, U.S. Pat.
No. 6,733,328 discloses a two-way winding reel with the structure
including complicated designed grooves on the rotating mechanism
and a movable roller that follows the grooves to control rotation
and prevent excess force on the cable. However, it is extremely
difficult and costly to design the proper angle of the grooves so
as to stop the rotation of the rotating mechanism again and again.
Further the great bounding force caused by the spring 25 will force
the roller to strike the groove furiously, which will damage the
groove and cause a breakdown after less than thousand times'
rotation. Though Taiwanese patent No. TWM260039 replace the roller
with a swing arm, the complicated groove design still remains.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] It is an object of the present invention to provide a
two-way cable winding reel that is low in cost.
[0008] It is another object of the present invention to provide a
two-way winding reel adoptable by wired computer peripheral
devices.
[0009] To accomplish the objectives mentioned above, a reel
constructed in accordance with the principles of the invention
comprises a housing, a rotator, a worm spring, and a cable. The
rotator has several protrusions on a side facing the housing, and
the housing has a movable stopper. One end of the stopper is stuck
between two of the protrusions, while the other end of the stopper
protrudes through the housing.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0010] FIGS. 1 and 2 are exploded isometric views showing a
preferred embodiment of the invention.
[0011] FIG. 3 is an isometric view of the preferred embodiment of
FIGS. 1 and 2.
[0012] FIG. 4 is the sectional top view of the preferred
embodiment.
[0013] FIG. 5 is a lateral view of the preferred embodiment.
[0014] FIGS. 6-8 are sectional views of the preferred embodiment
showing its operation.
[0015] FIG. 9 is an isometric view showing application of the
preferred embodiment to a computer peripheral device according to
the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0016] The following detailed description is of the best presently
contemplated modes of carrying out the invention. This description
is not to be taken in a limiting sense, but is made merely for the
purpose of illustrating general principles of embodiments of the
invention. The scope of the invention is best defined by the
appended claims.
[0017] Referring to FIG. 1, the two-way cable winding reel 100
comprises a cable 110, a rotator 120, a housing (including an upper
housing 130 and a lower housing 140), a worm spring 150 and a
stopper 160. The cable 110 has terminals 111 at each end. The cable
110 can be any signal transmitting cable or power transmitting
cable. The terminals 111 can be any specific type of connector,
such as a universal serial bus (USB) or personal system 2 protocol
(PS2). Though one end of the terminals 111 can be fixed to a
circuit board, it is still operated as a two-way winding reel.
[0018] Referring further to FIG. 2, the rotator 120 mainly is a
hollow column for receiving the spring 150, and has a hole 122.
Several protrusions 123 are spaced around the hole 122 and face the
upper housing 130. Slits 124 for receiving the cable 110, and slits
125 for receiving the worm spring 150, which is hooked to a wall of
the rotator 120. The central portion of the cable 110 is clamped
between the clip 126 and the rotator 120.
[0019] The upper housing 130 and the lower housing 140 can receive
the cable 110, the worm spring 150, and the rotator 120 therein.
The upper housing 130 has an axle 131 that extends through the hole
122 and is received in the hole 141 of the lower housing 140. The
axle 131 has a slit 131a which has a screw portion 131b such that a
screw 142 can couple the lower housing 140 and the upper housing
130 together. The upper housing 130 further has a round groove 132
for receiving the protrusions 123. The upper housing 130 has a
first recess 133 for receiving the stopper 160 and a second recess
134 for receiving a resilient element 170. The stopper 160 has an
engage portion 161 that extends to the outside of the upper housing
130 so that it can be operated by a user's finger.
[0020] Referring to FIG. 4, the worm spring 150 surrounds the axle
131. One end of the worm spring 150 is clamped within the slit 131a
while the other end of the worm spring penetrates the slit 125 and
is hooked around the wall of the rotator 120. The worm spring is
thus positioned to apply a counterclockwise biasing force to the
rotator 120, i.e., if the rotator 120 is rotated clockwise by an
external force, the worm spring 150 will counter the external force
with a counterclockwise force.
[0021] Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the stopper 160 is pivoted in
the first recess 133 and biased against the resilient element 170
located in the second recess 134. The stopper 160 includes a pawl
having an inclined or ramp surface 163a and a stop surface 163b.
When the pawl including the inclined surface 163a and the stop
surface 163b extends between any two adjacent protrusions 123,
further rotation of the rotator 120 in the counterclockwise
direction is prevented by stop surface 163b, while rotation of the
rotator 120 in the clockwise direction is resisted by the inclined
surface 163a so as to normally prevent rotation of the rotator 120,
but to permit rotation of the rotator 120 when a sufficient force
is applied to the cable 110.
[0022] The cable 110 surrounds the rotator 120, and the central
portion of the cable 110 is clamped between the clip 126 and the
rotator 120, i.e. in the space A. Each end of the cable 110
penetrates the slits 124 respectively. Further, one end of the
cable 110 penetrates the upper opening 135 of upper housing 130
while the other end of the cable penetrates the lower opening 142
of the lower housing 140. Therefore, when the cable 110 is pulled
out of the housing, the counterclockwise biasing force generated by
the worm spring 150 will force the rotator 120 to retract the
pulled cable 110 back into the housing.
[0023] Referring to FIGS. 6.about.8, when the cable 110 is pulled
out from the opening 135 and 142 simultaneously, the cable 110 will
force the rotator 120 to rotate clockwise. Meanwhile, the
protrusions 123 will also rotate within the round groove 132.
However, the protrusion 123 will continuously push and lift the
stopper 160 at the inclined portion 163a such that the cable 100
will be pulled out continuously to a predetermined length. Once the
user stops pulling the cable 100 out of the housing, the stop
surface 163b will be forced by the resilient element 170 to
obstruct retraction of the rotator 120 by engaging the nearest
protrusion 123, as shown in FIG. 7.
[0024] Referring to FIG. 8, if the user wishes to retract the cable
110 back into the housing or to a desired length, the user can
press the engage portion 161 of the stopper 160 to cause the stop
surface 163b to disengage the nearest protrusion such that the
rotator 120 will rotate counterclockwise to retract the cable 110
completely or to a desired length. Once the user releases the
engage portion 161, the stop surface 163b of the stopper 160 will
be forced by the resilient element 170 to again obstruct the
retracting or rotation of the rotator 120 by engaging the nearest
protrusion 123.
[0025] Of course, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the
illustrated clockwise and counterclockwise directions are for
illustrative purposes only, and that the bias force and retraction
direction may be changed to clockwise rather than counterclockwise
by simply winding the cable around the rotator in an opposite
direction and exchanging the inclined and stop surfaces of stopper
160.
[0026] Referring to FIG. 9, the present invention can be applied to
a computer peripheral device 200, such as a wired mouse or the like
having a main body 210 from which a cable 110 extends, and a
circuit board 220 to which the cable is connected. By using the
winding device 100 in the manner described above, the user may
further extend cable 110 to a desired length by pulling on the
cable, or the user may retract the cable 110 completely or partly
by pressing on engage portion 161 of the stopper 160.
[0027] While the description above refers to particular embodiments
of the present invention, it will be understood that many
modifications may be made without departing from the spirit
thereof. The accompanying claims are intended to cover such
modifications as would fall within the true scope and spirit of the
present invention.
* * * * *